Beginings
by AnyaLise
Summary: It's the begining of the end of peace in Konoha. [postChuunin exam AU] [NaruSasu, KakaIru, various other pairings]
1. Prelude: Hospital

Disclaimer. The Naruto universe is property of Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just playing with it.

Prelude. Hospital.

The waiting room of Konoha Hospital was hollowly empty compared to the direct aftermath of the attack. Civilians and most of the uninjured shinobi had filed out some time ago in favor of biting their nails for their loved ones at home. Any remaining shinobi were trained in field aid, doing any little bit they could to help the chakra-exhausted med-nins.

It didn't take long for the patients to become stabilized and the bodies to be properly disposed of (either burned or given to scavengers, ninja were never buried). Around then, those who could still stand were put on clean-up and rounds.

Somewhere around then, Hatake Kakashi had collapsed on the waiting room floor with his aching head pressed against the cold tile. Honestly, these kids were going to be the death of him: first he had to spend most of his chakra healing a half-crushed Sakura and then he'd spent any remaining energy trying to keep Sasuke and Naruto in bed because, damnit, they had nearly killed themselves with chakra depletion and were they _trying_ to give him a heart attack?

Sadly, that lecture had been most ineffective. And, he had to wonder if they were really listening to him anyway.

Cold, strong fingers carefully pulled him into a sitting position and peeled his mask down. He focused his lone eye on an index finger and thumb that carefully pressed some painkillers between his half-parted lips. After a moment, a cup of water was pressed to his lips and there was a whispered "Swallow" somewhere near his ear.

It took him a few minutes to realize that someone (probably another elite jounin) had snuck up on Kakashi without him noticing and that he was leaning up against a very feminine chest. That left it at either Anko or Kurenai, and he guessed Kurenai since Anko's skin was never as cold as the fingers that were currently readjusting his mask. Not to mention Kurenai tended to be just a little bit gentler than Anko, though not by much.

"You should get some rest," _that_ was definitely Kurenai's voice – it was too intensely calm and quite to be confused for anyone else. It was something that had been beaten into her long before her ninja training, because not even eighteen years as a shinobi could keep someone perfectly calm during the worst crisis to hit Konoha in twelve years. "The council is expecting a huge influx of missions to prove that the village still retains its military power."

It figured. Kakashi was willing to bet anything that the council still expected them to train the genin too. Because life in a soon-to-be war zone didn't suck enough as it was.

Frowning, he managed to pull away from Kurenai, stand, and stumble over to one row of waiting room chairs. Curling up on the uncomfortable seat of one of them, Kakashi forced himself to relax and let sleep take him. After all, there was more than enough elite jounin, ANBU, and various other ninja milling around that he shouldn't be in any danger. And he was exhausted – not that he'd admit it, but his students took much more out of him than they should have.

He felt, rather than saw, Kurenai throw one of the hospital blankets over him before she disappeared from the waiting room.

-

Uchiha Sasuke scowled and buried his face in the orange jacket, as if it was the jacket's fault that Naruto was giving him nightmares. Because it _was_ Naruto's fault that he was having nightmares. If the moron hadn't been such a moron and nearly gotten himself killed, Sasuke would be able to just sleep without seeing the deaths of every person he'd ever cared about replaying over and over and over…

Somewhere along the line, Naruto's could have been, would have been, should have been death had been added, forcing Sasuke to cling desperately to the moron to know that the blonde was in fact still alive and well.

Naruto didn't seem to mind Sasuke's desperate need for closeness, surprisingly. It was somewhat comforting, the way Naruto rubbed soothing circles against his back. The moron kept whispering too – something about how it was alright to have nightmares or some other nonsense – but Sasuke had chosen to ignore that.

Instead, the last Uchiha had opted to listen to Naruto's heartbeat overtop the noises of people running around the hospital and keeping it in working order. It was weird to know that everything just kept going even though the Hokage was dead and they were probably at war with at least Oto, if not Suna too. And who knew how long it would be before the other villages were pulled into the war? At the very least the five great villages would have to hold true to the alliances.

Scowling even more, Sasuke buried his face further in Naruto's jacket and tried to push all thoughts of war and death out of his head. He was a shinobi and an Uchiha, after all, he should be able to control his thoughts.

The moron finally gave up on talking and moved to stroke Sasuke's hair back, slowly lulling him back to sleep for the hundredth time that night.

-

The hallways were virtually silent as Umino Iruka walked through him, slowly rocking a sobbing Konohamaru as if the boy was a child much younger than his eight years. He didn't blame the boy, truthfully: Sandaime Hokage had basically raised the boy since the death of Konohamaru's father four years ago. And now the Hokage was dead and Konohamaru was left with just his uncle for family.

And Asuma could barely take care of himself – much less an eight-year-old.

No, Iruka didn't blame Konohamaru for crying so much. Or Asuma for not being there to take care of the problem. He just wished it had all happened at a more reasonable hour – say, eight in the morning instead of one.

A few people passed him as he made his way through the halls, hurrying off for some reason or another. Though Anko had been the only one so far to stop and talk to him, taking Konohamaru for a few minutes to give Iruka's arms a break. But other than that, he'd been mainly undisturbed.

He didn't mind it though, since most of the other shinobi wandering the halls outranked him and he was never quite comfortable dealing with them. Even if most of them were around his age and he'd known them forever.

Frowning, Iruka pulled his sleeve down over his hand and wiped the tears of Konohamaru's face. Now wasn't the time to think about how to treat people of higher ranks. He still had to worry about getting the boy calmed down.

Konohamaru seemed to actually be calming down, resting his head on Iruka's shoulder and hiccupping softly as the sobs died away. The boy's eyes dropped slightly as he sniffled and looked up at Iruka, silently questioning what was going to happen next.

"It's going to be alright…" Iruka added the 'eventually' in his head as he slowed to a stop in the waiting room. He could see someone sleeping on the other side of the room, back to Iruka (though he'd guess it was Kakashi by the silver hair). Sitting down on the nearest seat, he settled Konohamaru so that the boy would be able to sleep comfortably.


	2. One: Councils

Thanks to necrophile and causeiambetta for reviewing.

One. Councils.

With one fluid movement, Sabaku no Temari scooped up a handful of hot desert sand and sliced through her palm with a kunai. Blood welled in her fist and stained the brown dirt a beautiful scarlet. "Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone, return now to the timeless sands and walk this earthy path no more," she tossed the handful of sand over the Kazekage's body as she chanted, watching the wind sweep the dunes over her dead father.

It was her duty as the eldest child to take care of the sending-off ceremonies. Of course, she would have done it even if she wasn't the eldest – Kankurou was too afraid of his own blood and it was physically impossible for Gaara to cut open his palm.

In theory, this particular sending-off ceremony was reserved for well-loved, well-respected family members, of which her father was not. But the Suna Council had demanded it for their Kazekage… and who was _she_ to disagree with the council.

It wasn't long before Gaara and Kankurou came to stand close to her – Kankurou cradling her hand in his and Gaara allowing his hands to hover over hers. The sand extraction was a relatively painless process, Temari reflected, at least it was with Gaara softening the blow of dirt particles being ripped from the gash.

"This is stupid," Kankurou growled as he carefully wrapped the still bleeding wound in fresh white gauze. "They have you mutilate your hand when we're possibly going to be in a war, for a man you didn't even like at that."

Temari sighed and carefully tugged the bandages from her brother's hands, tightening them enough that they stopped the blood flow. "It's _fine_, Kankurou. Let them have their sense of propriety… it isn't as if we aren't all sick of war and death…" she said it with such a sense of finality that there was no room for either of her brothers to argue.

The crowd around them that had gathered to watch the Kazekage's sending-off had dispersed, leaving only Baki standing there and watching the three silently. But, that was what Baki did best for the siblings – watch them silently, protect them silently, be there more than their father or anyone else ever had. He wasn't supposed to be silent, now, though… he was supposed to be telling them what the council had officially declared about the unofficial war and the so-called "traitor genin".

Temari stared at Baki waiting, a frown marring her face. On either side of her, Kankurou and Gaara continued to "fuss" over her hand. At least, as much as either of them could fuss. Honestly, she was starting to think all the men her family were incapable of actually _feeling_ anything.

Of course, it might just be some of the Kazekage that rubbed off on his children.

Baki finally started towards them, twirling a kunai by the ring on one finger. In a heartbeat, the kunai left his finger and went sailing through the air, towards Temari. Automatically, she reached up to catch the blade in the nearest hand, wincing as the weight fell against her wounded palm.

In another moment, the kunai was sailing through the air to be caught by Baki and tucked back into a weapons pouch. "Nice throw…" he grinned slightly at Temari.

Temari snorted, rubbing the sharp ache out of her palm. "Hn… I missed. I was aiming for your head," propping her good fist on her hip, she looked over at her brothers. Neither of them seemed to be up to asking the question, but then she was the official voice of the group it seemed. "What did the council decide?"

"That our little group is the official peace delegation to Konoha," Baki seemed bored, almost uninterested, "to make up for our 'transgressions' which resulted in 'the loss of our valued Kazekage'." The hint of bitterness in his voice was not imagined, at least as far as Temari could tell. But then, the man had a _right_ to be bitter – the council that had ordered the alliance with Oto had turned on him and his students. And on top of it all, the blame for the Kazekage's death fell solely on Baki's shoulders, never mind Suna's ANBU who was supposed to be watching the man or Orochimaru who had double-crossed the village.

"Damn bastards," Temari groaned, tugging fitfully at one of her ponytails with her injured hand. "Why did they even bother to call us back here if they're just going to send us over there again?"

Baki rubbed a hand over his eyes, staring down his student. "Because they are the council. And that's what councils are good at."

Temari sighed and sunk onto the sand, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her forehead against them. It seems like she'd been away from home forever and now she had to leave again – to back _there_, where it would be less than welcoming. She barely noticed when Kankurou sank next to her, resting an arm over her shoulders or when Gaara just sat there next to her, not really saying or doing anything.

-

Umino Iruka winced slightly, watching as Kakashi's fist hit the missions desk with enough force to send the stacks of papers and scrolls scattering to the floor. Honestly, Iruka understand where the man was coming from, he didn't want to send the kids on missions just days after being released from the hospital anymore than Kakashi did. But Iruka was not the council and the council had come up with the mission (or more specifically, Jiraiya had "requested" to have Naruto and team help him search for Tsunade).

"Hatake-sensei," Iruka tried to reason, silently counting to ten in his head, "I know this is hard for you. But the council made the decision, not me or my desk. And taking it out on my papers isn't going to make anyone feel any better."

Behind Kakashi, the other three genin teachers looked even less pleased than the white-haired jounin. Asuma was silently sharpening the bladed ends of his brass knuckles; Kurenai was muttering under her breath about demon tree binds; and Gai looked like he was going to knock in the head of the first councilman he saw. Quite frankly, Iruka was a little concerned… especially because none of them seemed to understand the "don't shoot the messenger" proverb.

Sighing softly, Iruka shot Kakashi one last glare and started to gather up the pieces of what had once been a nice, neat stack of tests waiting to be graded. "Just take your stupid mission scroll and leave me alone," he just barely avoided throwing the scroll at Kakashi's head and shoving it at the man's chest instead.

Kakashi's lone eye blinked lazily, staring at the scroll as if vaguely surprised that Iruka would have an outburst like that. Of course, Iruka reflected, not many people would probably stand up to Kakashi like that.

"These missions are vital to survival of Konoha," the door opened to reveal Hiashi. The Hyuuga council member looked half exhausted and somewhat distraught – maybe even by the same thing that was bothering them all. "We would not endanger these children if it was not necessary. As it is, we cannot spare enough jounin and chuunin for four-man diplomatic missions. And genin should be able to handle delivering scrolls to a council, especially with a jounin to watch them."

There was a moment of silence in which each of the four jounin picked up their mission scrolls (though Iruka was convinced it was because to do otherwise in the face of a council member would be treason).

Hiashi halted them from filing out, though, standing in front of the door. "Sandaime bought us a brief moment of peace with Oto; I suggest that you return to these borders before it runs out."

Iruka thought that a stupid warning – after all, it did depend on the moods of the other councils and no one _knew_ when Orochimaru was going to attack again, if he did. And there was the matter of Suna, which was by far the closest hidden village. Nobody could really be certain about what they were planning to do.


End file.
